


Tales of the Lone Wanderer

by Cogaidh



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-15 20:58:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12328758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cogaidh/pseuds/Cogaidh
Summary: This is a written account of my adventures after leaving Vault 101. Rumors of those adventures have become ridiculous in their exaggerations and false details, making me out to be some Saint, I wish to set the record straight. --Abigail Lynwood, the Lone WandererMore tags will be added as chapters go up.Rating might change.





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> Projected Quest Order || https://sta.sh/0ypxqztt712  
> Character Art || https://sta.sh/01o0ae3cctdm
> 
> It has been a long time since I've posted in depth writings online (aside from written RPGS), and I know I'm not the best writer and I'll try to catch errors before posting each chapter. That being said, any constructive criticism you guys can offer me will be welcome (as long as it is -constructive-). Suggestions for changes to my writing style, ways I can better portray the events and emotions, quests order additions (I want the plot to be as smooth as possible), ect.
> 
> Most of the character conversations will be taken directly from the game, altered slightly to make the conversations flow better. A few of the quest outcomes will be altered slightly.

April 23rd, 2282

This is a written account of my adventures after leaving Vault 101. Rumors of those adventures have become ridiculous in their exaggerations and false details, making me out to be some Saint, I wish to set the record straight. Time has dulled the pain many of these memories bring, enough that I can record what happened in those chaotic months when I was fresh out of the vault. Thankfully I took many notes on my trusty pip-boy during that time, so what details I have forgotten can be remembered. There were times I was stupid, times I was rash, times I let my anger get the better of me, but thanks to the people I surrounded myself with, I’m alive today.


	2. Escape

_A lot of people died during and after my escape, at first, I felt responsible, but time proved to me that the only one to blame was the Overseer for ordering it all._

4:30 AM, August 17th, 2277

“Abby! Abby wake up!”

The rough shaking of my shoulder woke me with a start, my body jerking as I tried to sit up. “Amata?” the name was slurred as I tried to rub the sleep from my eyes, still partially blinded by the lights in my room, “Wha-What’s wrong?” I glanced at the clock near my bed and whined, “Ama it’s 4:30. Wake Up isn’t for two hours.”

“Abby! This is important. You’ve got to get out of here! Your dad is gone and my father’s men are looking for you!” Her panicked voice and tear stained face got my full attention as I slowly sat up and glanced around the small room.

“What do you mean, my Dad’s ‘gone’?” That couldn’t be right, he was going to let me take lead in the clinic today, they had been planning it for weeks.

“He’s left the Vault! I don’t know how, but he’s gone, and my father… he’s kind of gone crazy,” her voice choked on a sob as tears filled her eyes.

“Ama, I’ve never seen you so scared! What’s happened?” I quickly got out of bed and pulled on my Vault suit, something was definitely wrong, I could hear alarms mutedly blaring outside of the living quarters.

“It’s Jonas… they killed him! My father’s men, they took him, and… Oh god, you have to leave. Now!” Amata stood next to my bed now, ringing her hands and glancing out the room’s window into the hallway.

“What? Jonas is dead? What the hell is going on!” I had to reach over and grip Amata’s shoulders to keep the other girl upright.

“My father’s men think Jonas helped your dad escape. They caught him and brought him to my dad’s office and they… oh my god…” Tears started to spill from her eyes and I pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, they just beat him, and beat him, and wouldn’t stop!”

I started to feel sick, not only was Jonas dead but Amata had watched it happened, a nauseating realization began to dawn on me, “They killed Jonas… and I’m next, aren’t I?”

“Yeah,” Amata pulled away and briskly rubbed her eyes, “It’s lucky I got here ahead of them. But we can’t stand here talking! You’ve got to get out of here!” She shoved the pillow deep into its case and began to shove items from the dresser into it.

“But I don’t know anything about this, why are they after me!” It just didn’t make any sense, but I joined Amata in shoving belongings into the pillow cases, tying them shut and using belts to make the cases into packs.

“Maybe you don’t know anything, but my father sure thinks you do! You can’t let him catch you. I think he’d kill you… I really do.” Her hands were shaking as she, “You have to escape the Vault before they find you.”

“Escape the Vault? How?” I slung the packs over my shoulder strapping them in place.

“Listen. My father sealed the door to the exit to prevent anyone else from following your dad. But there’s a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father’s office to the exit, you’ll have to hack his computer to open it.” She pulled a handful of bobby pins out of a pocket and shoved them into my hands, “you can use these to get into his office. That’s how I always got in,” a weak smile trembled onto her lips before she became serious once more. “Security doesn’t even know about that tunnel, no one does, ‘cept my father and me. ‘One of the Overseer’s secrets,’ he says.”

I took a deep breath and moved over to the window to look out, “Alright… but you’ll have to make sure your dad’s not in his office when I get there.”

“I’ll think of something,” Amata said with a tiny smile, she then reached into her Vault Suit to pull something else out, “One more thing, I stole my father’s pistol. I hope you won’t need it, but you’d better take it just in case! Radroaches have swarmed the hallways along with Security.”

I looked at the pistol and hesitantly took it, it was heavy and cold in my hands. Shoving it into the belt of my Vault Suit I gave her a small smile, “Thanks, Amata. I’ll only use it as a last resort, I promise.”

“Okay,” Amata took a deep breath before heading to the quarter’s door, “I’ll meet you at the exit! Good luck!” And with that Amata was gone. I stood for a moment, shakes starting to work their way into my body. I looked at the baseball bat my dad had on a bookshelf in the main room and picked it up. I had shoved the old BB gun he had given me for my tenth birthday into the cases. I didn’t want to use the pistol, I had grown up knowing every guard by name, but I would need something to dissuade them from following me and would need defend myself from the Radroaches. I ran my fingers over the dings and divots in the dark mahogany, my fingers traced the deeply carved words above the wrapped grip ‘Revelations 21:6, Alpha & Omega’.

Gripping the bat tightly, I slid over to the door to the hallway and opened it. The blaring alarm deafened me as I walked into the hallway and turned a corner, coming face to face with Officer Kendall. His face was twisted with a snarl as he lunged toward me, baton raised. Instinct had my bat swinging before I could even stumble backward. The mahogany connected solidly with the baton, Kendall mustn’t have expected me to fight back for the baton flew from his hand and he gasped in pain, clutching is wrist. “Sorry!” I blurted out as the bat swung again, catching the security officer in the temple and sending him down like a sack of scrap. My heart beat against my ribs as I looked down at the unconscious man, from what my father taught me, I knew he wouldn’t be out for long so I would have to act quick. I crouched down and rummaged through the pockets of his vault suit and found the zip tie cords they used to restrain people. Pocketing the extra, I used two to securely bind Kendall’s wrists before I dragged him into my quarters, I didn’t want him to be munched on by Radroaches out in the hallway.

Returning to the hallway, I picked up the baton and shoved it into one of the sacks before the familiar skitter of many legs on the floor had me spinning around. Several large Radroaches were closing in on me and I hefted the bat once more, if you were fast Radroaches were of no real threat but they still made me shudder with every crunch their exoskeletons gave as I crushed them with either bat or boot. Taking a left at the next intersection I ran past the bathrooms when Butch DeLoria turned the corner. I nearly brained him with my bat, but the panicked look on his face had me hesitate. He made eye contact with me and I tensed, “Please! You gotta help me! My mom’s trapped in there with the Radroaches! I-I can’t go back in there. It’s… it’s dark and there’s Radroaches.”

Several replies flashed into my mind and were instantly discarded, after a few breaths I sighed, “Butch… if only you knew what ‘irony’ meant…” he opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off, “but I’ll help, and I’m doing it for your mom, not for you. I still think you’re an asshole.” I swear he actually blushed in shame.

“Oh my God, thank you! You’re right, I am an asshole. I’m sorry for the way I’ve always treated you-”

“Don’t thank me yet,” I snapped, pushing past him to head down to the DeLoria residence door, I could hear screams from inside as I slammed my fist on the open button and rushed inside. The entry room was a mess, bottles and cups flung everywhere and I wasn’t entirely sure that the Roaches were the complete cause. I hurried to the next door and as soon as it was open, my bat was swinging. I barely heard Ellen DeLoria’s screams of terror as I knocked the Radroaches away, they scurried and chittered but as the last one was smashed I was able to take a breath. Ellen was sobbing, curled up on the floor next to her bed but she was safe. Butch had followed me into the quarters but had stopped at the door, he was pale but grinning.

“You did it! My mom’s going to be okay! I don’t know…” He frowned for a moment before shrugging out of his Tunnel Snakes jacket, “Here take it! Really, I want you to have it. I’m so sorry for being such an asshole all the time.”

I took the jacket and removed my packs so I could put it on, where I was going, it could be useful, “Just… try not to be such an ass, Butch.” I said as I moved to the door, “I’m leaving the vault,” I ignored his gasp, “If you really want to thank me, grow a pair and look out for Amata.” With that I left the quarters and hurried down the hall once more, passing the cafeteria I glanced in and saw Grandma Taylor lying dead on the floor, Radroaches swarming her body. The lights above the door heading to the Upper Atrium on the other side of the room were dark, meaning the door was locked. Cursing, I shuddered and moved on, nothing I could do there.

As I approached the Classroom I heard the accented shouts of the Mr. Handy, Andy. Turning the corner, I saw the robot and Officer Gomez fighting off Radroaches, and not hesitating I joined in, knocking one that jumped at the security officer into a wall before crushing it.

“Abbigail?” I turned to look at the security officer, “You’re lucky it was me who found you! The others…” he trailed off.

“The others would kill me just like they did Jonas?” I asked my voice hard.

“Look… I,” he shook his head, “No I won’t make excuses for them, they’re crazy, and Officer Mack was out of control… Look avoid Security Chief Hannon if you can; I really think he’s lost it, just like the Overseer. Good Gravy, if I didn’t know what the Overseer would do if he caught you… you need to get out of the Vault. Just go, I’ll pretend I never saw you.”

“Thanks, Officer Gomez, I always liked you. I was on my way out anyway, I have to find my dad.”

“Good luck to you, missy.” With that he headed past the Classroom towards the Living Quarters.

Turning towards the Clinic I saw that Andy had unlocked the door, I heard Stanley talking loudly and nervously so I hesitated for only a brief moment before entering the Clinic. The old Mechanic’s face lit up when he saw me, “Me and Andy were in a tight spot there, ain’t no mistake. Good thing he loves toasting Roaches as much as he does, and you and Officer Gomez came along.” He was already starting to tinker on Andy, fixing whatever damage the Roaches had done.

“I’m leaving Mr. Stanley,” I talked quickly as I headed over to the storage lockers to grab supplies, “Following my father out of the Vault, before the Overseer can have me killed just like Jonas.” The old man paused in his work on Andy and stared at me. I ran into my father’s office and stood in the doorway, shocked at the state it was in. Papers and files were scattered across the room, his desk had been flipped and the computer he kept his records on was overturned in a corner. Hurrying over to it I managed to get it upright after a bit of struggling. Turning it on, I cursed when the ‘Administrator Lock Out’ message scrolled across the screen. Damnit, pushing myself to my feet and headed over to the desk in hopes of finding anything in the draws. Only supplies which I shoved into my packs, no information what so ever on what my father had been planning. Returning to the main Clinic I saw Stanley hard at work on Andy, he glanced up at me before sighing.

“This Vaults been going to pot ever since that young Alphonse took over,” he grumbled, “Your dad always too good care of us, so I’m more inclined to believe he’s in the right.  Well good luck to you kiddo, no one will know you came by here from me, now get out of here before anyone else comes by.”

“Thank you, take care of yourself Stanley,” I said as I headed out, the only way to the Overseer’s office would be through the Atrium and there would probably be security there.

“You too kiddo,” I barely caught the murmured words as the Clinic door hissed closed behind me. I felt tears prick at my eyes as I hurried up the stairs… damn this whole situation, Dad leaving without saying a word, Security out to get me and do who knows what to me, and couldn’t even stop to take a breather, I had to get out of the Vault. I thanked my lucky stars when I saw the next door to the Atrium was unlocked, as it hissed open, I cautiously walked through it, gripping my bat tightly.

“This is our only chance, don’t you see?” the hushed whisper caught my attention and I looked around a column to see Tom and Mary Holden standing close together, “We’re getting out of here, just like the doctor. I’m not going to let anyone stop us!” Shit, shit, shit, if the security guards were wound up enough to beat Jonas to death and attempt to kill me, they would gun down the Holdens’ without a second thought.

Just as Tom was about to step into the open Atrium floor, I rushed over and pulled him back, “Tom don’t be an idiot!” I hissed, my voice angry, “They killed Jonas! What makes you think they won’t kill you too!” The young man blinked at me in shock and opened his mouth to protest, “Shut it! Get back to your room before you get both you and your wife killed.” His eyes flicked from mine to the Roach-gut coated bat in my hand. He shakily nodded and I pushed him towards the door leading back to the Living Quarters. Mary shot me a grateful look before she hurried after her husband. I glanced around the column that the couple had been hiding behind and saw two security guards holding guns guarding the door to the vault door. Well I knew I wouldn’t be able to go that way thanks to Amata but I still had to cross the Atrium to get to the upper level.

Taking a breath, I lunged forward across the room, I heard the guards shout and then the deafening sound of shots being fired. Well if I wasn’t sure they had orders to kill me before, I was now. The door to the upper level was jammed open with a locker so I was able to dash inside and head up the stairs. I crushed the two Radroaches that crawled out of the vents along the stairwell and the upper catwalk of the Atrium. As I entered the Systems Room, three more Roaches rushed me, I was getting a little too good at crushing the pests. Looking down one aisle of computer banks, I saw a dead maintenance worker. Sure, the security guards could hunt me down but they couldn’t be bothered with protecting the vault residents from the damned Radroaches.

With the blaring alarms, I didn’t hear Amata’s terrified voice till I was right next to the window to the security office. Cautiously I glanced in and paled, the Overseer and Officer Mack had Amata pinned in a chair and she was obviously distressed. “Daddy, please stop! Please don’t have him hit me again! I told you I don’t know anything!”

“Be reasonable, Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I don’t. Just tell us where to find your friend, we just want to talk with her. Surely you can understand what’s at stake here.” The sickly sweat tone of the Overseer’s voice had me trembling with rage. “Again,” he added and Officer Mack punched Amata in the stomach. I watched as my friend doubled over in pain, coughing. “Amata, darling. Why must you be so stubborn? The last thing I want is to see you hurt, but my duty to the Vault comes first.”

I had had enough, setting the bat down next to the door I drew the pistol from my vault suit. The door opened with a hiss and both the Overseer and Officer Mack turned. I leveled the pistol at the Overseer and snarled, “Enough, Amata knows nothing, you bastard.” I would lie for my friend as she had lied for me, “But I won’t stand by and let you hurt her.”

The Overseer sneered at me, calling out, “She’s here! Guards, don’t let her get away!”

“No one is around to hear you Overseer,” Officer Mack stepped forward and I moved my aim to him, “And you back up, for what you did to Jonas, I have no issue with shooting you.” Glancing at the Overseer I continued, “Now into the holding cell, both of you.” The pistol was a double action so I used my thumb to pull the hammer back, “And I will not repeat myself.” Something in my eyes must have told the Overseer I was quite serious and he started to back up into the cell, Officer Mack following him.

“You’re no better than your father, a traitor and a coward.” He sneered as he backed up.

“Rich, coming from a bastard like yourself,” When the door hissed closed I rushed forward and activated the lock. I could hear the two start banging on the door and shouting but I ignored them and pulled Amata up from the chair and out of the room. She was sobbing and I put the pistol back into my vault suite and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

She sobbed into my shoulder her words broken, “I didn’t think… how could he…” She took a deep shaky breath and steeped way, “I had no idea my father would do that… Officer Mack, I never…” She took another breath, “Thank you, I didn’t tell them anything.”

I was about to reassure her once more when I heard the distinctive click of a baton being extended. As I turned to see who was approaching, the baton connected with the side of my face. A stripe of pain from temple to chin dazed me as I staggered to the side, my ears rang from the blow. I barley caught a glimpse of Chief Hannon raising his baton to strike at me again before Amata threw herself at him. My back connected with the wall of the hallway and I pulled the pistol out of my vault suit. My arm extended on reflex and my finger tightened on the trigger. The gunshot was deafening, making my ears ring even more. Chief Hannon stumbled backward, clutching at his chest before with a gurgle as he collapsed. Bile rose in my throat at the sight of the blood spreading across his vault suit and the floor. Swallowing repeatedly, I shuddered and looked away from the sight.

“You have to go before more come!” Amata gripped my arm and pulled at my sleeve, “I’ll meet you at the entrance, you just have to go now!” Still shocked from having killed Chief Hannon, I shook my head to clear it and shoved the now warm pistol back into my vault suit and snatched up my bat. “Go!” Amata pushed me forward and I started to run.

I passed by Chief Hannon’s body and refused to look at it as I turned into the room he had come out of and stopped in my tracks. Jonas lay on the floor, covered in blood. Oh God, they had killed him here. I walked over to his body and knelt down. “I’m so sorry, Jonas,” I murmured as I searched through the pockets of his blood stained lab coat. The hard edge of a holotape caught my fingers and I pulled it out. I didn’t have time to listen to it now but I slipped it into one of my packs and closed my eyes for a moment. “Goodbye Jonas… I’ll… I’ll tell dad what happened.” Getting to my feet I approached the door to the Overseer’s office and knelt once more in order to pick the lock that held it closed. It took a few tries, I wasn’t as practiced as Amata was, but I managed to get the door open before too much time had passed. I could still hear the muffled shouting from the Security Office and it was only a matter of time before more security guards came this way.

I quickly walked over to the Overseer’s terminal and opened the command prompt. Searching through the jumble of words, letters, and punctuations, looking for the password. My father had taught me basic hacking when I was 15, something I never understood the reason for, but maybe he was just preparing me for the day something like this happened.  After some trial and error, I found the correct password, ‘Amata’ who would have thought the daughter he was willing to torture was so important to him, and the login screen appeared, as the interface loaded I saw several different categories, curiosity raged with the since of urgency that the alarms gave me. After some hesitation, I hooked my pip-boy up to the terminal and copied all the files over to its hard drive. I could always delete them later. This process to a few moments as both the pip-boy and the terminal whirred and clicked, my fear and nerves stretched out the time it took to hand shaking lengths. When the Terminal displayed the message that all files had been copied, I went back to the main menu and found the option to open the Overseer’s Tunnel.

Stepping back from the terminal, I wondered just where that door would be when the desk behind me began to shudder. I turned and watched with wide eyes as the desk lifted up on hydraulic pistons and the floor slid away to reveal stairs that led to the tunnel. After a moment to think of the implications of such a tunnel I hurried down it, it dead ended in a small room but I noticed a button on the far wall and pressed it. Part of the wall slid away and I found myself in the monitoring room of the vault door chamber. I rushed over to the console that controlled the large gear shaped door and pushed up the lever that activated it. A klaxon started to blare, drowning out the sounds of the alarms in the vault itself. I could barely hear the security guards on the other side of the door that led to the Atrium shouting and banging on the door as they tried to get in.

“You did it! You opened the door! My God, I almost didn’t believe it was possible.” I whirled around to see Amata come out of the Overseer’s Tunnel. She gave me a very sad smile. “Were you going to leave without even saying goodbye?”

“You could come with me, you know,” I said though I knew she would refuse.

“It’s tempting, but… my place is here. The Vault needs me, I’m the only one who has the chance to talk some sense into my father.” She bruskly whipped tears from her eyes, wincing as she touched the bruises there, “If you do catch up with your dad…” she paused and shook her head, “tell him I’m sorry about Jonas, my father… for everything.”

“Goodbye Amata… I’ll miss you,” I said, the vault door was nearly open enough for me to slip through.

“Go on, Find your dad. I’ll… I’ll miss you too. You’ve been the best friend a girl could have.” She gave me a teary smile and the door to the Atrium burst open. Security guards came pouring into the room and I turned to run. Glancing back one more time as I slipped past the thick door, only to see my friend tackled to the ground and one security guard throw the switch to start the door closing once more. But I was through, and they couldn’t stop me.


	3. Wasteland Introduction

_My first introduction to how my life would become living in the Wastes, I admit there were times I wish I had stayed in the Vault. But I have grown to love this blasted Waste._

5:45 AM, August 17th, 2277

The air was crisp and cold, burning my lungs slightly as I stared in awe at the landscape before me. The moon and stars were still bright in the predawn light, showing me much of the torn and broken land that lay before the vault. I didn’t know what I had expected but this was… this was pure destruction. I walked across the rocky ground to a faded and battered blue sign that read ‘Scenic Overlook’. I had read of such places scattered across Old America, places where people could stop and just look over the landscapes. They were supposed to be beautiful sights, but the nukes would have changed that. Turning around I looked over the looming rock outcropping that the vault’s entrance had been built into, a shabby wooden door all that was keeping people from the greater vault door.

The darkness that still shadowed the land around me tempered any urge I had for rushing off after my father. There were some dim lights off to my right in the distance but I didn’t want to risk the walk in the dark. I didn’t know anything about this wasteland and this past night had taught me much of human nature. I could wait till dawn came before I wondered off in search of Dad. With a sigh I settled down at the base of the lone bare tree on this rocky ledge and brought my pip-boy up to listen to the holotape I had found on Jonas’ body. I placed the holotape in my pip-boy’s reader and played the note.

_“Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first.”_ His voice was muffled but clear, as if Dad had started recording before he had meant to.

_“I don't really know how to tell you this.”_ He seemed to hesitate as he spoke, like he was trying to figure out what he wanted to say, _“I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe some day, things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going.”_

_“Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with.”_ Jonas… well at least I now knew just how involved he was.

_“Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you.”_ The sound of the vault door’s klaxon beginning to blare as the holotape ended.

I was left stunned, sitting against the tree and staring blankly at the screen of my pip-boy. Dad had underestimated how crazy the Overseer was, and now here I was, out of the vault with no idea where to go to find him. I sighed and rubbed my forehead firmly, trying to push the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me back down. “Okay, Dad…” I murmured, he had wanted to keep my safe, that I understood, but not telling me a thing, even in this holotape, I didn’t. “Well no use moaning about what he should have done.” I saved the holotape’s recording to my pip-boy and placed the holotape into one of my packs.

After a moment to clear my mind, I went back to my pip-boy and pulled up the files I had taken from the Overseer’s terminal. The format had copied as well so I could see the categories of ‘Security Dossiers’, ‘Scouting Reports’, and ‘Vault-Tec Instructions’. I scanned through the Security Dossiers first, each entry shocked me. The fact that the Tunnel Snakes had been ‘working’ for the Overseer, didn’t really surprise me after I thought about it. Their brand of rebellion didn’t quite fit with how tight a grip the Overseer held on the vault. The other ‘dossiers’ didn’t really shed much light on anything except on just how crazy the Overseer was. With a sigh I deleted the dossiers, not needing them any longer.

When I opened the Scouting Reports I was disappointed to see only one report from February 10th, 2241, over thirty years ago, but the fact there was a ‘Scouting Report’ meant that the elders of the vault had been lying about the vault having shut tight to the outside world. Whether it would help or not could only be found by reading it though so I opened the file to look it over. The report was brief, glancing over the details I made mental notes on key points but there wasn’t much in depth information. The only thing that surprised me was to see that Anne Palmer, old Lady Palmer’s deceased daughter, had written the report. I exited out of the report and looked at the Exhibit files, one was of the giant ant mention in the report and the other was apparently the front gates of ‘Megaton’, well at least I now knew what to look for.

I deleted the images but kept the report, it was time to look at the last category. Reading the letter from Doctor Stanislaus Braun, I shook my head, so the vaults hadn’t truly been meant to save people, but to experiment on them. What the hell had Vault 101’s experiment been? What types of experiments had been performed in other vaults? Well, there were no answers in this area so I read over the other entries and after thinking it over, deleted all of them.

Looking up from my pip-boy, I saw the sky was significantly brighter, and at the center of the horizon, I saw the blinding edge of the sun. When my eyes started to sting, I looked away, blinking the after vision away. It had been beautiful, my first sunrise, but I was stupid to look for so long. I knew from the science books we had been allowed to read that the sun was a ball of burning gas far from Earth, and that looking directly at it could damage one’s eyes. It had been worth it though. With my eyes clear once more, I pulled the two pillow cases to me. I needed to go through them. Amata and I had just thrown everything we could grab into them and most would probably be junk. So opening the cases I spread their contents on the ground before me.

Organizing everything took a bit of time, but in the end I was actually relieved with just how many practical items I had. Two very squished pillows, two blankets, a set of sheets (did Amata just shove everything from that dresser into the pillow cases?), six spare vault suits, a mechanic’s suit, my baseball bat, my BB gun and over one hundred pellets, thirteen stimpacks, two Rad-X, one Med-X, two packs of Mentats, three cans of water, four packs of rations, my Grognak the Barbarian comic, a Vault Boy Medicine! Bobblehead, I still wore the Tunnel Snake jacket though I was debating its benefit, the 10mm pistol and fifty rounds, fifteen bobby pins, a baseball and glove, some glue, and some scrap electronic parts. With everything organized I was able to fit everything into one of the cases, bundling the other case into it and looping the spare belt across my waist.

The sun was fully above the horizon now and I felt confident enough to move away from the vault’s entrance. I tucked the pistol in my belt and held the bat one handed as I looked around. I could recognize the shape of Megaton’s gate in the spot I had seen lights earlier, so I would make my way there. Hopefully Dad had stopped there for at least a bit. Looking between Megaton and the ruined town of Springvale, I decided to take a route through the ruins. Hopefully I could scavenge something useful as I passed through.

The ruined highway that passed just below the entrance of the vault, turned sharply to head towards Springvale, blasted out cars littered the road along with debris from the town which grew thicker as I approached the buildings. Curiosity had me peering into mailboxes and I did find a few items, chems and even a grenade. Who the hell kept grenades in mailboxes. With a shake of my head I step through the crumbling doorways of the houses I passed, glancing around for anything I could salvage. There wasn’t much, the mailboxes outside had been more fruitful, strangely enough. That was until I reached the last house before another street intersected with the one I had been on.

Inside the house, a safe was tucked behind a decaying fireplace. It had obviously been accessed recently, there was a space clear of rubble where the door had been opened. Morals warred with curiosity, with the later winning out. Pulling the bobby pins from a pocket of my vault suit I knelt to the task of unlocking the safe. The tumblers clicked into place and turning the handle I opened the safe door. Inside was a random collection of loot, a .32 caliber pistol and rounds, some more chems, and a handful of nuka-cola bottle caps… and a blood smeared note. Picked up the note I felt my stomach flip between relief and panic. The piece of paper detailed the number of people lured to and killed in the nearby schoolhouse, the loot was the result of two of the killers stealing from the others and hiding everything in this safe. I dropped the note and looked at the brown flakes that fell from my fingers, dried blood. I had to swallow repeatedly to hold back bile as I scooped everything into my pack. Better I have it than those murderers.

I was about to stand up when I heard hushed voices and the crunch of feet on rubble. Panicking, I looked around for a place to hide and resorted to hiding behind a dividing wall, furthest away from the approaching people. As they got near I was able to overhear their conversations, they were the killers that had been hiding the loot. They were coming to put some more items into the safe. Shit, had I closed the safe? It was too late now to rush to do that for the two men entered the house and found the safe open. They cursed and I pulled my pistol out of my belt and held it close. Suddenly one raider came around the wall I was hiding behind, a blade laden crowbar in his hands. He spotted me (I wasn’t hard to miss in a bright blue vault suit) and ran toward me with a shout and a crazed grin. My arms came up and my finger squeezed the trigger, once again I was deafened by the gunshot and the raider fell back. I barely had any time to recover before the second raider came around that same corner. Once more I fired and when my ears stopped ringing I cautiously moved over to the two fresh corpses. The overpowering metallic smell of blood had me bending over and retching. Nothing much came out besides bile, leaving my throat and mouth burning as I dry heaved.

I sat back against that wall for longer than I probably should have, but once again, I had killed and I hated the feeling. I had to resign myself to the sensation though, if these two were any indication of what I would find out here, I would have no choice. I shuddered once more before getting to my feet to walk back over to the corpses. I knew I had to rummage through their pockets, so I steeled myself and knelt. I found more chems (seriously how plentiful were these things, was everyone in the wasteland a drugged out?), more of the bottle caps, but not much else. Both the men had been using those bladed crowbars so it was too much to hope for ammo. I looked over to the safe and saw a rough cloth sack sitting next to it, the men must have dropped it when they came after me. Getting to my feet I walked over to the bag and found more caps, a carton of cigarettes, two bottles of whiskey, and some cans of food. I added the caps to the growing collection in one pocket (I was beginning to think they may be some sort of currency for the wasteland) and tightened the sack so I could tie it to the bandolier belt I used to old my other sack.

After some mental debate, I pulled out a can of water and cleaned out my mouth before taking a few sips. It eased the lingering taste of bile in my mouth, resealing the can I headed back onto the main road and passed the Red Rocket Gas Station, following the signs that pointed to Megaton. As the town came into view I marveled at the ingenuity that had gone into the construction of the walls. The citizens had taken crashed aircraft and used the wings and bodies to make a thick and high wall surrounding the entire town. Two wings stood upright in the ground, framing what must be the gate which was made out of an engine and two more wings. The engineering that had gone into this was impressive.

Looking around the gate I saw two men standing next to what looked like a cow, except something was wrong with it. The cow’s hide was rough looking and hairless, but as the creature turned its head I saw what had felt wrong, the cow had two heads. Well… I had to believe that this was normal by how the two men were acting. Avoiding eye contact I made my way up to a very worn protectron that stood at the closed gates of Megaton. It greeted me in very strange tones, very similar to the western holovids we got treated with as children in class. As it spoke the two wings that made up the gate rose out of the way, and the protectron welcomed me to Megaton. Not wanting to spend more time out in the open I took a breath and headed through the second gates into the city.

The city was just as grungy and ramshackle as the walls but the precariously perched buildings had a charm to them. Looking around my eyes were drawn to the path that slopped downward towards the center of the town, and I froze. A large nuclear missile was embedded in the ground, it had most likely been the cause of the very crater that I could now see housed the city. Who the hell would build their homes around a bomb? While I was busy staring, I barely noticed a man approaching me but I quickly turned my attention to him. His skin was dark and weathered just like the duster and hat he wore. A silver badge shone from his jacket and I hoped that meant he was some sort of sheriff.

“Well I’ll be damned, you’re from that Vault 101!” The dry scratchy laugh, caught me off guard as he walked up to me. “I ain’t seen one of those jumpsuits in a long time. Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff. And mayor too, when the need arises. I don't know why, but I like you, girl! Something tells me you're all right. So welcome to Megaton!”

My eyes flicked to the rifle slung across Mr. Simms back and I gave him a small smile, “Nice town you got here, sheriff. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Abigail Lynwood.”

“Friendly _and_ well-mannered? I think we're gonna get along just fine, Abigail. You treat my people nice, and you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like.” The veiled threat was easy for me to see, and I could tell just by how Mr. Simms was standing that he could be quite the hard man.

“Message received, Sheriff.” I said with another shaky smile.

“Well I’m glad we understand each other then. Now, is there something I can help you with?” He shifted to put all his weight on one leg and crossed his arms as he watched me.

“I’m looking for my father. Middle-aged guy, about your height, pale with silver hair. He would have come into town several hours ago. Maybe you’ve seen him?” It was worth a shot to ask him.

The Sheriff pulled at his beard before he answered me, “Nope, sorry. I got enough fires to put out in this place that I don't have time to keep tabs on every visitor. I'd ask around town, if I were you though.”

“Well… I guess I could use some directions around town then,” I said a little disappointed but glad for any help that Mr. Simms would be willing to give me.

“Well if you’re looking for a drink or a place to stay, you could head to Moriarty's. The entrance is on the top level, opposite the Main Gate. Just be careful. Moriarty is _not_ your friend, no matter what he may say, so don't fall for his lies. And for god's sake, don't trust the man.” Mr. Simms gave a sorrowful shake of his head before continuing, “There’s also the Brass Lantern for food and drinks, down in the crater, and I trust them a lot more than Moriarty. Our clinic is across from there. Doc Church is a little rough around the edges, but the man's got talent and compassion. Also, you'll probably want to see Moira at Craterside Supply, she sells all sorts of things in that place, from weapons to supplies. She’s eccentric but useful.”

I once more glanced at the large bomb in the center of town, “About that bomb…”

“What about it.” The Sheriff’s voice had a harder edge to it, as if he was tired of hearing about it.

“Don't you think someone should disarm that thing?” I hesitantly said, I was obviously treading on a sore subject.

“I don't trust any of the locals to tinker with it. Besides, most people don't even realize it's still a threat. And hell, Cromwell and those crazies from the Church of Atom, they worship the damn thing.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked me over, “Why? Do you think you got the know-how to disarm it? For good?”

“I can see about disarming it, I have some experience with nuclear reactors from the vault, and from what I’ve been taught, they aren’t that different from the bombs.”

The man sighed before pointing a scared finger at me, “Oh, all right. Fine. But listen here. Just take a look at it first. Go easy.” Each of the last few words were punctuated by a jab of his finger, “If,” he raised that finger, “If you get the job done, there'll be 100 caps in it for you.” So, I had been right, the caps were a form a currency.

My morals won out after a brief pause to think about his offer, “I don’t need a reward. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing you could all die.” It was true, if the bomb went off, and I could have disarmed it, I would be haunted by my lack of action for the rest of my life.

“Well,” he had a vaguely surprised look on his face, “that's mighty decent of you. Just don't, you know... go blowing us up. All right? I’ll even ask around a bit to see if anyone saw your dad.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.” With a casual wave of his hand, Mr. Simms continued up the path past me to continue his patrol of the city. I watched him for a bit, seeing how the worn and weary looking settlers smiled and greeted the man. Well… I could swing up by Moriarty’s first, who knows, maybe the stereotype of a saloon would be true and all sorts of gossip would be dropped. I headed down the crude path of boards imbedded in the ground, walking toward the bomb I had promised to defuse, I could see the access hatch on one side and even saw a man standing knee deep in radioactive water preaching about the atom. Well I guess there were all types in the wasteland. Heading up the makeshift ramp that started before the Clinic, I placed everything on a mental map so I wouldn’t get lost.

I passed Craterside Supply on my way further up the slope, and when I reached the wall I turned to head towards the Saloon. Well the sign was styled after the Old West, so after taking a deep breath I opened the door and walked into the dim interior. When my eyes had adjusted to the low light, I looked around. Behind the bar stood a man covered in what looked like terrible burns, missing his ears and his nose. I had never seen anything like it.

“Hey smoothskin, do you need something? A drink, maybe? Anything? Anything at all?” The man’s voice was rough as gravel as he gave me a very intense look, his eyes focused on my chin.

“Let me think about if for a moment, please,” I said my voice trembling just a little with nerves.

“Wait... you're not going to hit me? Yell at me? Not even berate me a little bit?” His eyes flicked back and forth in uncertainty and I felt my heart lurch, I hated to see anyone bullied, and he had the look of someone who had been hurt, quite a lot.

“No, I… hadn’t planned on it.” I was unsure how this conversation would go.

“Well now. That's a surprise! I'm used to every asshole smoothskin in this town giving me shit just because I look like a corpse.” He gestured at himself with one hand, “My name’s Gob and I'm glad to see that there are a few worthwhile people around here. Listen...” he looked around and leaned forward lowering his voice, “Moriarty'd have my head if he caught me selling at a discount, but for you, I'll risk it.”

I was burning with curiosity at just what Gob was, “I’m Abigail, um… so where did you come from?” I asked before I could stop myself. I instantly blushed and covered my mouth, “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem,” Gob said waving off my apology, “I’m from a place called Underworld. It's a Ghoul city down in D.C. I set off up here to find adventure and fortune. And... well... I found this place. I'm sort of stuck here. Colin says that I can't leave until I pay off my debt to him. Of course, he charges me room and board too.” He grumbled the last bit and hunched his shoulders. After a pause he looked up at me and added, “If you ever get to Underworld, tell Carol that I said hi.” I was about to say something else when Gob nervously glanced around. “Look if I’m caught talking with you and not selling anything, Moriarty will beat me again.”

Once again my heart lurched and I gave him a small smile, “Alright, can I have some water?” I saw the price on a board tacked up to the wall and pulled the required caps out of my pocket. I set them on the counter, “Keep the change Gob.” He gave me a crooked smile as he got a can of water and handed it over to me. He then hurried over to the other side of the bar to do some cleaning.

“It’s sweet of you to be nice to Gob like that,” the woman that had been standing next to the bar leaned over to speak to me. “That miserable bastard is hard on all of us. But Gob gets it the worst. I guess just because he's different, you know?” She took a drag from the cigarette she held before continuing, “I’m Nova. Do yourself a favor and keep walking. Some of us stay for a few days... and then it's five years later...” Her voice held a bitter undertone and I guessed she owed Moriarty a debt just like Gob did… I was beginning to like this man less and less the more I heard about him.

“So… what’s a Ghoul?” I asked very cautiously.

Nova gave me a long look, taking another drag from her cigarette, “That’s right you’re a Vaultie, never seen a Ghoul before. Gobs a Ghoul, poor fucks that got caught out in rad heavy areas. Some die, others turn to Ghouls. You got Ferals, Ghouls that lost their minds and regular Ghouls, like Gob. Whatever you do, don’t call Ghouls zombies or shamblers, they really hate that.”

“I bet,” I murmured sipping at my water, “How’d he come to be here?”

“He's been here for... I guess about fifteen years now. Ever since Moriarty bought him off of those Slavers.” Slavers… those were a thing? God, I hated even the concept of that word. “Anywho, better go look for work, see you later, doll.”

I finished off my water and gave the woman a friendly nod as I got up from the stool I had been sitting on. She stepped away from the counter and walked over to where some men were drinking at a table and I turned to head to the door when a very dapperly dressed man sitting in a little alcove caught my eye. We made eye contact and I felt a shiver go down my spine, he had the same insane stare that the Overseer had. He gestured for me to come over to him.

“My, my. Just when I had all but given up hope. My dear girl, I am very happy to make your acquaintance. I am Mister Burke.” His voice was like oil, sliding over me as I suppressed more shivers. This man oozed bad intentions. “And you, well, you are not a resident of this putrescent cesspool. That makes you a rather valuable individual.”

I needed to know just what this man was angling for so I decided to play along with the snake, “Mister Burke, is it? Please, continue. I find myself… enthralled.”

“Finally, someone with a modicum of civility and common sense,” his tone was over dramatic as he grinned at me, “I represent certain... interests. And those interests view this town, this ‘Megaton’,” he nearly spat the word out, “as a blight on a burgeoning urban landscape. You have no connections here. No interest in this cesspool's affairs, or fate. You could assist us in erasing this little accident off the map.”

Ah, so that was his angle, my mind instantly went to the bomb in the center of town and I fought to keep a pleasant expression on my face. I’m sure Sheriff Simms would want to know of Mister Burke’s purpose here in Megaton, but all I had at the moment is my word… I would have to play along even more, “Go on, I’m listening.” Making that last word drip with interest.

“The undetonated atomic bomb for which this town is named is still very much alive. All it needs is a little motivation.” The dark little chuckle that followed the word ‘motivation’ had a shiver go up my spine once more, “I have in my possession,” he continued, “a Fusion Pulse Charge constructed for a singular purpose the detonation of that bomb. You'll rig it to the bomb. Then you'll get paid. Handsomely. What do you say?” His voice dripped with sickly sweet tones.

“Simms wants me to disarm the bomb…” I said as if musing on my choices. God, I already felt sick with myself just for pretending to go along with this man.

“Simms is an idiot. He prides himself on his position as mayor and sheriff of this scrapyard,” his words dripped with distain.

“All right, say I decide to help you… what’s in it for me?”

“You mean besides doing the world a favor by removing this pestilent scab of a town? Why, you'd be rewarded most handsomely! My employer is a very generous man. If it's bottle caps and luxury you're seeking. You shall have it!” Blatantly trying to play on the greed I pretended to have.

“All right, Mister Burke. I’ll do it, Megaton will burn.” I very nearly choked up on that line, only years of controlled composure in the vault saved the lie.

“Excellent! I had a feeling about you. Here's the Fusion Pulse Charge. It needs to be installed inside the bomb. When it's done, meet me at Tenpenny Tower. It's southwest of here, well out of harm's way. You can't miss it. Questions?” He held out the Fusion Pulse Charge and I took it, shaking my head. “Then don’t let me keep you.”

Slipping the charge into my vault suit, I walked out the door of the saloon and stood on the balcony outside for a moment to look over the city and compose myself. I shuddered at just how… evil that man had been. It was a different type from the raiders I had killed in Springvale, but still evil. Looking down at the bomb I spotted Sheriff Simms walking over to the path that led up to the gate. Turning, I made my way back down over the confusing maze of walkways to the crater. I walked with a purpose over to the Sheriff and he raised an eyebrow looking at me, “Hey there, kid.”

“I met a man named Burke. He said he'd pay me to rig the bomb to explode.” My voice firm as I pulled the charge out of my vault suit, and held it out for the Sheriff to take.

“He said what? Oh I never did like the look of him,” his voice smolder with anger as he took the charge and gave it a confused look.

“That’s the Fusion Pulse Charge he gave me to the bomb.”

“Jesus!” the Sheriff nearly dropped the charge before he shoved it into one of the pockets of his duster, “Let's go find this Burke character. You're about to get an education in Wasteland justice.” He didn’t even wait for me to respond, but pulled his rifle from his back and headed off at a fast walk towards Moriarty’s. I had to sprint to keep up with his much longer strides, he was taking a different route up to the saloon and I barely had time to glance at the buildings we passed. He burst through the door to the saloon and went straight to the corner that Burke had claimed. “You there! Burke! Explain your business in Megaton”

“I'm sorry? Sheriff, what are you hollering about?” His voice still had that aloof and poisonous edge to it.

“You know damn well what I'm talking about. The bomb! You're trying to blow it up! Have you lost your goddamned mind?” The Sheriff seemed to radiate anger as he kept a firm grip on his rifle. The patrons of the saloon were starting to pay attention to the commotion. Burke caught sight of me walked up to stand next to Mr. Simms and his expression soured. He glared death in my direction before his mask of civility slipped back into place.

“Sheriff. I’m afraid there’s been a,” he paused and glanced at me, “misunderstanding. Someone has surely been spreading rumors. I’ll be sure to address the situation... personally.” His voice dripped with venom at the end as his eyes turned to look squarely at me. I had to once more suppress a shiver.

“I'm placing you under arrest, Burke. At least until I figure out what the hell's going on around here.”

“And _I'm_ afraid I won't be able to oblige your request, Sheriff.” He spat out the word as he cast glares in my direction, “I have pressing matters to attend to. Now... step aside.”

“This is not open to discussion! You're coming with me.” Mr. Simms voice was firm as he tightened his grip on his rifle.

“Why do you knuckle draggers always insist on doing things the hard way? Very well, Sheriff. Lead the way,” I did not trust Burke’s acquiescence in the least and I kept my hand firmly on the grip of my pistol as I held it behind my back. Sheriff Simms turned his back to Burke and began to walk towards the door as the man got up out of his chair. I saw him reached into the pocket of his jacket and caught glimpse of the shine of a polished barrel. My own arm came up and as my other hand shot out to cup the grip of the pistol, Burke finished pulling a fancy looking pistol out of his jacket. Two shots rang out as shouts filled the saloon, many patrons had seen Burke pull his gun out and tried to warn the Sheriff.

Burke’s gun had fired uselessly into the floor of the saloon, a reflex his brain had sent before it had been blown out against the wall. The gore nearly made me gag once more, but I pushed the sensation down as I looked the man over, pistol still gripped with both hands. Simms turned and walked back into the room to look at Burke’s body. He then looked up at me and sighed, “I must be getting slow in my old age. Thanks for saving my hide.” He sounded tired and resigned as he knelt next to the body. He rummaged around in Burke’s pockets before he stood up. He turned to me and held out Burke’s gun, a silenced 10mm, and a bag filled with caps, “Here, Wasteland Law, it belongs to you now.”

Wordlessly I accepted the gun and caps, and looked the pistol. Blood was splattered on the polished steel and I grimaced as I shoved it into my belt.

“You know, come to think of it,” Mr. Simms was rubbing the back of his neck as he looked over the corpse of Burke, “I do remember a stranger coming through here. Had a look in his eye. You know the kind a man gets when he's got a purpose.” I looked back at the Sheriff and he was watching me with sad eyes, “Spent some time up here in the saloon. Might want to check with Moriarty when he gets back in.”

That was the second time I had been told to wait for Moriarty to get ‘back’, “Where is he?”

“Probably halfway back from Canterbury Commons,” the Sheriff said, nudging Burke’s body with his boot, “Some sort of trade agreement with the Caravans. Should be back by this evening.”

I took a steadying breath before giving him a small, shaky smile, “Thank you, but I think I’ll take care of that bomb before I do anything else.” With that I walked past the Sheriff and the staring patrons of the bar and headed back down those damned walkways to the crater. The Children of Atom preacher had thankfully stepped away from the bomb, I didn’t want to know how he would react if I were to disarm it with him near. I knelt down in the water and felt it tingle against my skin as it slowly seeped into my vault suit. I didn’t want to be kneeling in this radioactive sludge any longer than I had to, so I hoped this would be quick. Opening the panel on the side of the bomb, I looked at the wires and dials and knew exactly what needed to be done. A few clipped wires here and a couple of circuits removed there, and the bomb’s detonator was disarmed. I even bent the housing around the removed circuit boards so no one could replace the parts.

Getting up I stepped out of the pool and made a face at my soaked lower half, thank god for those spare vault suits. “I’ll be damned,” I jumped at the sound of the Sheriff’s voice. He stood next to the Brass Lantern with his hands on his hips looking me over. “You did it, didn't you? You disarmed that thing! And all without asking for pay, too,” he shook his head with a grin, “Hell, why don't you move in? We could use more people like you around here. Here's the key and deed to an empty house up on the hill. Consider yourself a Megaton citizen!” He held out a packet of paper and pointed to a house next to the entrance of the town, “Oh and talk with Moira at Craterside, she's got random odds and ends you might be able to spruce the place up with.” He was still grinning and shaking his head, he walked away.

I was shocked, I hadn’t expected him to give me anything after I had refused the caps. But to give me an entire house? I looked the deed over and laughed softly. Well, barely out of the vault for five hours and I’m already a member of a wasteland town. My humor quickly faded as all the stress and adventures of the day came crashing down on me. The fact I had killed four people since waking, had my stomach twisting and threatening to once more rid itself of its contents. Well good thing I did have a house here now, I needed a place to be alone. I tried to ignore the looks and whispers that the citizens of Megaton cast in my direction as they watched me. Trudging up the steep slope of the crater I turned off at the access to the house and walked around the outside walls to where the door was. The key took a bit of wiggling to turn properly but the door unlocked and I stepped inside, turning to lean my head against the door as I closed and locked it.

“Ah! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, madam! I am your new Robobutler,” I turned around in shock to see a Mr. Handy hovering just behind me. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am Wadsworth, your personal robotic butler. I am here to look after your needs and to keep you happy and entertained. What can I do for you?”

I stood there in shocked silence for a few moments before sighing, “Can I have something to drink, please?”

“Certainly, madam, here you are.” The Mr. Handy reached into a back compartment of his chassis and pulled out a can of purified water. He then putted off to the back end of the house.

I saw pots and pans so that must be the kitchen, but I needed a place to rest though. Not seeing anywhere on the first floor I made my way up the stairs. Most of the second floor was open to the first with a walkway all the way around. Opening the first of two closed doors I saw an empty storage room, opening the second I was relieved to see a bed. I undid the bandoleer belt and set the makeshift bag that had grown heavier since leaving the vault, on the corner desk that took up half of the small room. I gave the can of water Wadsworth had given me a long look before setting it next to the bag on the desk. Taking off my boots and soaked vault suit I walked over to the bed. The room was warm and there was only a threadbare blanket on the bed but I didn’t mind. I curled up on the worn mattress and was asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.


	4. Not Prepared

_Things didn’t quite go how I hoped that first day, but things started to look up thanks to the friendly residents of Megaton. I swear without that town I would have not made it far from the Vault._

 

6:25 PM, August 17th, 2277

“Madam, Sheriff Simms is here to see you.”

For the second time that day I was being shaken awake, god I hoped this wasn’t a precedent for how my life would be like now. I sat up and vigorously rubbed the sleep from my eyes, “Thanks, uh, Wadsworth,” I had to search for a moment to remember the Hr. Handy’s name. I winced, my throat was raspy and painfully dry, giving me more motivation to stagger out of the bed. The robobutler puttered out of the room, heading back downstairs. I rubbed my forehead, cracking open a can of water the robobutler had given me earlier, I guzzled it down to get rid of that terrible dry feeling that made my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. Looking around for the vault suit I had tossed on the floor, I was confused to find it gone (Did Wadsworth also do laundry?). With a sigh I pulled out a fresh vault suit and slowly tugged it on, sitting on the bed so I could pull on my boots.

I looked at the time on my pip-boy, clipping it into place as I thumped my way down the stairs. I had been asleep for a little over seven hours but I still felt exhausted. A reflective surface caught my eye and I groaned, I looked terrible, dirt smudged my face and my hair was an absolute mess. I quickly pulled my hair from the bun I had thrown it into this morning, ran my fingers through it to hope to smooth it out a bit before tying it back into a loose braid. Nothing could really help with how my face looked so I walked to the door to let the Sheriff in.

“Well I have some bad news, Abigail,” he said, walking in and looking around for a moment before meeting my eyes. “A trade caravan that was heading here from Canterbury Commons came across an ambush site. Raiders had ambushed a group traveling before them and killed everyone.”

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, he had told me that Moriarty had been on his way back from Canterbury Commons, “Moriarty’s dead isn’t he.” My one lead in finding my father was gone.

“I don’t think a single person here is sad to see him gone, but…” Mr. Simms said rubbing the back of his neck, “Sorry, maybe you can go talk with Gob and Nova about things, maybe Moriarty left notes.” He trailed off and sighed, “Well I’ll keep asking around with the traders that come if you don’t find anything there.”

I had to force a hopeful smile on my face, but I wasn’t feeling any hope at all. In fact, I was trying very hard to keep my composure. My mind raced over the ‘what if’s that sprang up with this news. “Well I’ll head by the Saloon, then.” The Sheriff gave me a half smile as he walked back to the door. I closed it behind him and leaned against the cold surface. Damnit. My only thread of hope at the moment was the chance that Moriarty had written about the meeting with my father. I tugged the end of my braid as I pushed those ‘what if’ thoughts away. I had to focus on the here and now.

Speaking of the here and now, did my new house have a bathroom? I remembered seeing a public Women’s Restroom in town, but it would be really inconvenient to walk all the way across Megaton just to take a piss. I walked over to the kitchen area of the home and looked around, sink, refrigerator, storage under the stairs. I turned around in place and blinked at the door that was almost hidden out of sight by a hanging sheet. I pushed the sheet aside and opened the door. It was a small bathroom, there was a shower head over a grate in the floor and a toilet. Well that was a relief. I could wash off the grit of the day now. I really hoped the water was clean but from the huge pipes that crossed the town and the signs I had seen, there was a water processing plant in town.

I could settle for just washing my face and hands for now though, walking over to the sink in the kitchen to turn on the spout. The cold water was a refreshing shock to my system as I scrubbed the dirt and grime from my skin. I wasn’t holding out hope for hot water, that took an excess of power to create, so it looked like cold showers would be my lot. Looking at the polished bit of metal that served as a mirror next to the sink, I was glad to see some improvement in my looks. My hair still needed a proper brushing, but that would have to wait till I found a proper brush (out of everything Amata had shoved into those pillow cases, a brush had not been included). After grabbing the bag of caps from where I had left it upstairs, I headed out of the house and walked to the Saloon.

The atmosphere inside the saloon was vastly different from what it had been that morning. Burke’s body was gone and the corner had been scrubbed clean, but there was actually a smile on Gob’s face as he saw me. “Hey, Abigail!” he was practically beaming, “I almost can’t believe it. Moriarty gone.” He chuckled to himself as he cleaned a glass with a rag. I couldn’t be too upset about my situation when I thought about how Gob and Nova were now free of their debts to Moriarty. I settled down on a stool next to the hissing radio, giving Gob a small smile in return.

“Gob and I are going to be running the Saloon now, he’ll handle the bar and I’ll handle the rooms.” Nova said sliding onto a stool next to me. She had a ‘cat in the cream’ expression, “We can see about turning this place into an honest business.” She then looked me over and frowned, “Hey, what’s the matter, doll?”

“I didn’t get a chance to ask Moriarty about my father, he was my only lead.” I said with a grimace.

“Oh yeah, I’d heard Simms say something about earlier,” her nose scrunched up a little as she paused to think, “I do remember a silver haired gent coming in before dawn this morning. Spent a while talking with Moriarty but I was working and didn’t hear much.”

“Moriarty’d have recorded it in his terminal, he wrote down everything he heard.” Gob said setting a can of water before me and waving away the caps I held out. “It’s locked but if you can hack it you’re welcome to the gossip on it. We’d need to get it accessible anyway, it’d be a waste to just have it sitting back there.”

“I used to have the password but he changed it recently,” Nova said annoyed, “I guess the bastard was worried about me double crossing him. Which I would have.” She smiled at me, “Terminals in the back room,” she gestured at the door behind the bar, “Go knock yourself out, doll.”

I had to chuckle at that and taking my water with me, I walked around the bar and into the back room. It was small, divided in half by a battered old wardrobe. The shelves that lined the walls were full of booze and cans of food. Walking past that old wardrobe, I saw the terminal mounted on the wall with a worn chair set in front of it. Placing my hands on the keyboard I opened the command screen and began the search for the password in the jumbled mess. This was more tricky than the Overseer’s terminal had been, so I took my time in the hack. I was down to two choices and deciding to take a chance I picked one and grinned when the login screen scrolled across the terminal’s monitor.

When the terminal loaded, I was greeted with three options, ‘Residents’, ‘Visitors’, and ‘Tab’. I selected the ‘Visitors’ option and two subsections began to load. ‘Mr. Burke’ as the first section, I wonder what Moriarty had thought of that snake, but the second subsection had my heart jumping in my chest. ‘James (Vault 101)’. Dad. I opened the subsection and waited impatiently as the terminal loaded the information. When there was enough text to begin reading, I was left blinking at the screen. Dad had been to Megaton before? The next sentence told me where he was going, Galaxy New Radio, deep in the ruins of D.C. I was about to exit out of the terminal when the next paragraph began to load, leaving me dumbfounded at the information scrolling across the terminal. Dad hadn’t been born in the vault? I hadn’t been born in the vault? It explained the somewhat hostile nature some of the vault residents had directed towards us, and the Overseer’s persistent dislike of my friendship with Amata. We had been outsiders. But despite this bombshell of a revelation, this information was what I had been hoping for, a definite place to look for my father.

Sitting back in the chair, I looked over the entry on the terminal once more. I connected my pip-boy to the terminal and copied that entry to its memory. With that done, I backed out of the entry and skimmed through all the other information on the terminal. The entry on Mr. Burke didn’t really cover much, so I went to the ‘Residents’ section. It was mostly gossip, dirt Moriarty had gathered on many of the residents of Megaton and how he planned to use said gossip, the man had truly been cruel. From the entries I learned that Jericho had attempted to rape Jenny Stahl, Jenny’s brother Leo was a junkie, Moriarty was pissed at Andy Stahl for opening a bar in ‘his’ town and planned to use Leo’s habit against him, his dislike of Billy Creel, and a very interesting nugget of information on Doc Church. So, the doctor of Megaton used to work for slavers at a place called Paradise Falls? I wondered what made him change his clients.

The ‘Tab’ section was just that, a list of the tabs people had at the bar, Gob would find that interesting. I went back to the ‘Residents’ section and stared at the entry for Doc Church. I was pretty sure Gob had been a slave, and I didn’t think he would react well to find out that the Doc had worked for slavers. I reconnected my pip-boy and copied that file before deleting it. No need to have the doctor’s past haunt him if he was truly repentant. I left the terminal on when I got up and headed back out to the Bar. “You were right, he did write about my Dad, I even have a place to look next.” I settled back on the barstool.

“Really? Well that’s good.” Nova did seem genuine, so I smiled at her. “What did he change the password to?”

“Vermilion.” I said writing it down on a bit of paper that Gob handed to me. “Had some bits of gossip on people here in Megaton and the Tab list.”

“Good, I wasn’t sure how much the regulars owed, this means I don’t have to start their tabs over. So, where’s your dad heading?”

“Galaxy New Radio,” I said looking over the generic prewar map of the D.C area that my pip-boy had. “Where is that exactly?” The silence that greeted my words had me looking up at them, “What?”

“Sweetheart, that’s deep in the D.C. ruins,” Nova said.

“And no offense but you’ll literally get eaten alive on the way there.” Gob added. I paled a little at his blunt statement, “You need better gear and probably some experience. I wouldn’t normally suggest hiring Jericho… but…”

“You could ask around town for odd jobs,” Nova interjected, cutting Gob off, she apparently didn’t like the Merc and from what I had read about him, I didn’t either, “get some caps and buy some gear form Moira. I hear she’s offering supplies for some sort of research job.”

“And Walter always needs help at the Water Processing Plant.” Gob added.

I was sensible enough to know I was not prepared to follow in my father’s footsteps just yet, but since I now knew where he was going I was more willing to take a breather. I finished off my water and smiled at the two, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to go running off after him till I’m prepared.” I got up from the stool and headed to the door, waving goodbye to the ghoul and the woman as I left the Saloon.

I was getting better at navigating Megaton’s walkways, I didn’t make a single wrong turn as I made my way to the Water Processing Plant. The door to the plant stuck a little as I opened it, making me put a little force into the opening shove. The interior was dimly lit, with pipes coming up from vats of water under the floor to machinery that took up one entire side of the building. The air was humid and the machinery hissed and clanked. An older man in a pale mechanics jumpsuit was kneeling before one of the machines, using a spanner to tighten some bolts. After a moment’s hesitation I called out, “Hello?”

There was a loud clang as the man dropped his spanner and shot up right, “Huh?! Yeah? What is it?” his voice was raspy and harsh as he spun around to look at me. “What do you want?”

“Um, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help around here?” I took a tentative step forward.

The old man, who I presumed was Walter, rubbed his head for a moment before he spoke, “Well, it’s no secret that this ol’ water plant is on its last legs. And I’m the only one in town that can keep the damn thing running.” He scowled at the air before looking back at me, “I spend so much time up here in the plant, that I can’t take care of all those leaks that keep springing up in the pipes around town. Now I don’t expect much from strangers, but you’ve helped out the town quite a bit by disarming that damned bomb, so if you have the knowhow, I would appreciate you tracking down those leaks and patching them.” He looked at a pressure gage on a large water pump. “Should be ‘bout three of them out there.”

“I could do that,” I said with a smile, I had plenty of experience patching leaky pipes from helping Stanley. “I’ll swing back by when I’ve got them all fixed.”

“Well that’s mighty good of you, good luck Missy. You can use that bag right there, should have everything you need to fix those leaks.” Walter said, gesturing at a duffle bag sitting on a table before turning back around and returning to his task of fixing the machine. I sighed slightly before I picked up the heavy bag and headed out of the plant. I remembered seeing two leaky pipes, one on the roof of the Children of Atom’s shack and one next to the path to my home. I would go to the one on top of the shack first, it would be easier to drop down onto the roof from the balcony outside of Craterside than climbing up. The leak was a simple one, the joint between two pipes had come loose. I took a spanner out of the heavy duffle bag, loosened the teeth quite a bit, and tightened the joint and the leak tapered off and stopped.

I dropped down from the shack’s roof and hefted the duffle bag over my shoulder as I walked over to the leak near my own home. This one was caused the valve wheel being loose. I rummaged through the bag and pulled the spanner back out to tighten the connection between the valve wheel and its casing. The leak stopped almost instantly and I smiled. Now, where would that last leak be? My eyes landed on the Brass Lantern and then slid over to the Clinic. Well… that leak could wait, since I was down here in the crater I could satisfy some curiosity. Walking over to the Clinic, I stepped inside. A late middle aged man was sitting at a desk right next to the door, there was a scowl on his face as he looked me over. He sighed and began to speak, “I'm Doc Church and I run this clinic. Now, before you go askin' me for help, you'd better know the rules. Rule one: don't bother me.” It sounded like this was something he said to every new person to enter his clinic, “If you do bother me, you better be damn near dead. I'm busy enough takin' care of people I actually like. Follow my rule, I'll keep you patched up, I'll keep getting' paid, and we'll get along just fine.”

“Doc Church, what can you tell me about the people around here.”

“A doctor doesn’t talk about his patients. At least not strangers, he doesn’t.”

“I’ve trained as a doctor, and I already know about Leo Stahl’s… problem. Moriarty had quite the collection of gossip… including on you.” The doctor suddenly had a panicked look on his face, “Don’t worry, I deleted the file. I just want to help.”

Doc Church looked at me before sighing. “Leo Stahl… that boy got himself a problem with Jet, and a few others… I’ve caught him in here two to three times tryin’ to steal what I keep around for anesthetics. Not even his own family knows of it. He goes up to the water treatment plant at night to get high… I dunno… I can’t reach him, god knows I’ve tried. Maybe you can.”

“Thanks for trusting me Doc, maybe a stranger talking to him about it will get through.” I turned to walk out the door.

“Thank you… for helping me bury my past.” The doctor murmured rubbing his forehead as I left.

“You’re going to have to face it eventually, Doc,” I said as the door closed behind me. I wondered just what type of event had changed him from a slaver’s medic to a town doc. Maybe I would never know, but as long as he stayed on the straight and narrow, no one would learn from me. I’d seen Andy Stahl up on the walkways and Jenny was manning the outside bar. I gave her a smile as I walked into the Brass Lantern. A long ‘L’ shaped bar dominated the small room, there were a set of tables off to one side but it looked like most people would sit at the bar. A man I presumed was Leo was sitting behind the bar.

“Now you’re a lady that looks hungry. What do you need?”

Well I was indeed hungry, like the Saloon there was a board on the wall with what was offered. “Can I have a Brahmin Steak,” I pulled out the required caps and set them on the counter as I slid onto a stool.

“Well goddamn. You’re the new person, right? The one that disarmed the bomb? I’ve got to admit, the outfit’s a little weird, but that’s okay, that’s okay.” He was grinning at me. “Name’s Leo Stahl. It’s a pleasure!” He scooped up my caps, I noticed half of them slide into his pocket while the rest went into a box, and turned to the cooking surface to start on the steak.

I looked around, making sure that no one else was in the Brass Lantern. “I understand you have quite the Chem habit…”

Leo cursed and fumbled the fork he was using to hold the steak, “Dammit! Who told you- I mean… I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

“It’s okay, Leo. I just want to help.”

“Help? What's to help? So, I'm a junkie, big fucking deal. It's not like I'm hurting anyone.” His voice was defensive as he flipped the steak on the stove, but it also shook a little.

“You’re hurting your family, Leo.” I said watching him, “You’re probably skimming caps from those you wait on, stealing from the business to pay for your Chems.” From the way he twitched I knew I was right, I had seen him pocket half of what I had paid, so it seemed like it was a regular thing for him to do, “Did you ever think that you might be hurting them by doing that? Your brother and sister care about you, enough that Moriarty was going to use your addiction against your brother to drive him out of business.”

The young man turned to look at me, his eyes wide and terrified, “Really? He was going to do that? I… I guess you’re right… I am hurting them with this…” He turned back to the steak and flipped it once more before putting it on a plate. My mouth was watering at the smell the meat was giving off, I had only really read about true meat, not the freeze dried ration stuff we had in the vault. He put the plate in front of me and placed a set of silverware next to it. “I’ll have to tell them about my problem, won’t I?” He sounded defeated.

“I can’t make the decision for you, but yes, that would be a good idea.” I cut up the steak before taking a bite. The meat tasted amazing, the meat was lean and a little tough but that didn’t matter. It was good.

“I just don’t know what to say to them… I’ve been stealing from both of them for years to get my fix. Where would I even start?” He then shook his head. “Well, I’ll figure something out. Look, I want to thank you for your help. I guess it took a complete stranger,” with the right information, “to show me just how much of an ass I’ve been.” He shoved his hand into one pocket and pulled out a key, “Here, take this key. It’s to my private stash in the Water Treatment Plant. Just get rid of the stuff, burn it, sell it, I don’t care what happens to it.”

“You’ve made the right choice, Leo. Doc Church will help you if you ask him.” I had been quickly eating the steak, and was nearly finished with it.

“I know… he’s tried to talk to me about it before. It’ll be hard… but I have to think of my family. I got myself into this problem… and I need to get myself out of it.” I finished the steak and he took the plate. I watched as he pulled a bunch of caps out of his pocket and dropped them in the box. I smiled, glad to see he was truly serious about changing himself for the better.

“Well I’ll see you around, Leo.” I got up from the stool, whipping my mouth with my sleeve. “Good luck.”

“Thanks… could… could you send Jenny in? I think I should tell her first.”

“Will do, Leo.” I turned and walked out of the Brass Lantern. Jenny was standing behind the outside bar, she was collecting her lock box as it looked like Andy was about to replace her outside. “Hey Jenny, Leo said he wanted to talk to you.” I told her as she passed me, heading into the Brass Lantern.

“Really? Well that’s new, thanks for letting me know.” She was a cheerful young woman. I have her a smile before turning to head to the part of Megaton I hadn’t been to yet. A hand lettered street sign pointed up the slope saying ‘Commons’, and I could see a building up at the end of the path. I followed a pipe, up the slope and spotted the last leak. I looked the pipe over and was glad to see it was just another loose joint. The spanner was getting lots of use, I had to loosen the teeth all the way to get it to fit around the pipe, but managed to tighten the joint enough to stop the leak. With a smile, I hefted the duffle bag and made my way back to the Water Treatment Plant.

Walter was leaning on railing that lined the walkway in front of the plant, “I finished patching all those leaks.” I said as he turned around to look at me.

“Well I’ll be… I saw the pressure go up in the plant. Thank you, stranger! Thank you!” I had to grin with him as he leaned against the railing. “But listen, it’s only a matter of time before they burst again, and someone like you might not be around to fix ‘em. So, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you caps for any scrap metal you can bring me. If I have a steady supply of scrap, I can keep the plant running and the pipes patched just fine. We got a deal?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll bring you the parts I find.”

“Good. Good! This just keeps looking better! Those parts will keep this place running and the town in fresh water!” Walter quickly pushed a bag of caps into my hands before he walked back into the plant, a grin plastered across his face. The sky was growing dark quickly now, so I shoved the bag into a pocket of my vault suit and walked around the wall till I reached my home. It was certainly starting to feel like home.

Well… this certainly had been quite the eventful day, and an eventful evening. The worry and stress had pushed my exhaustion into the background. With everything over with, the exhaustion came back with a vengeance. Wadsworth was putting around the ground floor and he gave me a cheery greeting as I walked up the stairs. I gave a tired wave of my hand in reply as I walked to my room. I put all the caps in a drawer of the desk and emptied the makeshift pillow case pack, spreading its contents on the desk’s surface. Taking the sheets, I walked over to the worn mattress to pull the sheets over it. One blanket was folded and draped over the foot of the bed while the other was spread over the sheets. I then fixed the smooshed pillows, sliding the cases back over them. I would probably sleep comfortably tonight.

I looked at the bed and felt tears start to slide down my face. I brushed them away but they kept falling, this was just all too much. I wasn’t prepared for this. Mental exhaustion made the overwhelming emotions worse, they spun themselves into a dark spiral that dragged at my body and mind. I had never been truly overwhelmed before, but I knew from Freddy Gomez back in the vault just how that and depression could mess with you. I could almost hear my father telling me to take deep breaths, to focus on one thing. So, I breathed deeply, my eyes fixed on a single rust spot on the wall, the rush of oxygen to my system sending a tingle through my body. I focused on just that rust spot, letting the image fill my mind and push everything else away. I slowly calmed down and felt true exhaustion pull at me. No help could come from worrying about what I was going to need to do. I would need to take things one day at a time.

With a sigh, I stripped down, folding my vault suit and setting it on top of the filing cabinet that was next to the bed. I tucked my boots under the foot of the bed frame and settled down on the mattress. I wrapped the blanket around myself as I curled up. The unfamiliar sounds of the town outside soon quieted as the wastelanders ended their day and retired to their homes. There was a faint whistling sound that confused me until I realized it was the wind moving through the shacks of Megaton. That soft, constant noise soon began to lull me to deep dreamless sleep.


End file.
